Strategies for Making More Organs Available for Transplantation

Organ transplantation has evolved rapidly from the first early successes1 to the current widespread use of donated organs for the treatment of end-stage kidney, heart, and liver failure. With limited supplies of organs and an increasing demand for them, however, many patients who need transplants do not receive them (Figure 1).2 Each year, about 3000 patients in the United States die while waiting for an organ transplant, and about 100,000 potential candidates for transplantation die before they are placed on a waiting list.2 There is an 11 percent annual increase in the number of patients placed on waiting lists for . . .